The mortgage REIT industry held $286.3 billion of MBS at the end of June, according to exclusive figures compiled by Inside MBS & ABS.

The notion of a common pass-through MBS issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was formally put in play this week, as the Federal Housing Finance Agency solicited comment on a proposed “single security” for the two government-sponsored enterprises. The Mortgage Bankers Association has been pushing the concept for several years, and it made it onto the FHFA’s formal agenda for the GSEs in 2014. Proponents say it would improve liquidity in the market and level out Freddie’s pricing disadvantage. Under the FHFA proposal, the new common MBS would adopt...

SIFMA's call for higher guaranty fees might sound like heresy in the mortgage industry, but the trade group clearly wants the non-agency market to revive.

The HUD IG found the Federal Housing Administration failed to bill lenders for 486 loans with enforceable indemnification agreements that created losses for the FHA.

Banks need incentives to issue non-agency mortgage-backed securities instead of holding loans in portfolio, according to boosters of the non-agency MBS market. The Federal Reserve’s monetary policies and capital requirements set by federal regulators have played a role in the shift from non-agency MBS issuance to banks holding loans in portfolio. “Historically, major banks were the predominant sponsors of private-label securities transactions, especially for 30-year jumbo fixed-rate loans, which are not a good asset/liability match for their balance sheets,” officials at Redwood Trust noted in a comment letter submitted to the Treasury Department. In June, the Treasury issued a request for comments on how to increase non-agency activity in the mortgage market. In 2013, only 4.8 percent of the estimated $272.0 billion in non-agency jumbo originations were included...

The Investors Unite chief said Watt has publicly acknowledged that he possesses the Congressional authority to end the GSE conservatorships under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

One bidder who has looked at the Ginnie MSR package from PHH described it as “seasoned with some delinquencies in it.”

Redwood Trust said monetary policy moves by the Fed have left banks saturated with record levels of excess reserves and lower costs of funds.

Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest servicer, has assigned an 80 basis point value to its residential MSR portfolio, but the nation’s number-two servicer, JPMorgan Chase, has its MSRs booked at 106 bps…

According to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, Freedom grew second quarter originations by almost 49 percent, the best sequential gain for any top 10 ranked lender.